Quotable Country – 06/07/10 Edition

Q: It’s funny to talk to you today when the Internet’s going crazy about your haircut.
A: Tell them I also shaved my legs. ●– – Gotta love Willie Nelson.

There’s a great enthusiasm for good country music all over the world. I’d hesitate to put one country above another in terms of appreciation. When I go to Germany, they’re glad to see us. When I got to Ireland, they’re glad to see us. And when I go to Amsterdam, I’m glad to see them. ●– – Willie Nelson, part two.

I can’t live without The New York Times every day, and I can’t live without the books that are piled high on my nightstand. When I’m on the road and there’s a long day waiting for sound check, I’ll have the bus drop me off at the local bookstore where I can just kill five hours. I’d rather do that than sit in a hotel room. ●– – Justin Moore. Oops, I mean Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Hank [Williams] III has the highest-ranking new album. His Rebel Within arrives at No. 4 on the strength of first-week sales of 17,185 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. ●– – This isn’t fake news!

Q: Has anyone given you good advice along the way?
A: When I was… 13 years old, my dad (Steve Earle) was making a record and Waylon Jennings came in and he saw me playing guitar and he walked up and put his hands over the stings and he goes, “Son, stop that. It will ruin your life.” That was pretty good advice. ●– – Justin Townes Earle. (Thanks to Carolyn for the heads up.)

She’s probably the best female vocalist to come out of Nashville maybe ever. ●– – Miranda Lambert on Carrie Underwood.

CMT just put a Nickelback video into the rotation. Normally, that might piss me off because I’d rather see only the countriest country videos. But this is a band with the sexy, raspy-voiced Chad Kroeger as their frontman. ●– – Someone should trace the evolution of Alison Bonaguro’s “I only like the countriest of country” posturing. As a reader from way back (e.g. I read her first blog the day it went up), I know it wasn’t always this way.

Surgoinsville woman claims Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban shot in her home with AK-47 ●– – Okay, so she’s probably insane… but what if she ISN’T!?

I love our fans so this is really more about them. I was loving the unplugged. We are always plugged in and ripping people’s face off. I thought it was really cool to play unplugged, but the fans were having none of it. Now we’re plugged back in and just beat them over the head. ●– – Eric Church on getting moved to the Main Stage of the Country Throwdown Tour. I’m just gonna keep beating you over the head with Church quotes until your face rips off.

On my iPod, you’ll find everything from country to the most extreme rap you’ll ever think of. I’ve learned a lot from the writers here in the past six years. I have tried to take the music I loved to sing when I was growing up — R&B music, and the lyrics that I have loved to listen to since I first came here, and fuse those two together, and make an album that is 100% me. I can’t wait for people to hear it. ●– – Josh Gracin is still showing no signs of interesting me.

I’ll tell you who turned me onto it: Mutt Lange. I remember when he was producing our records, country music was all he ever played. I’d get in his car and go for a ride with him, and I’d look around at his music collection and it was all country stuff. No rock. He was very keen on George Jones, I remember. He liked the traditional artists. ●– – Depressing thought of the day: Mutt Lange and Def Leppard’s Phil Collen both have a surer sense of country music than most of the current crop of country radio stars.

Q: What was the one thing you felt you brought away from “AI”?
A: That show takes a bunch of armatures and puts them on the biggest TV show in America, and that can work one of two ways for you. I’ve seen it make people look like complete idiots; well, actually it shows the world that these people are complete idiots. And then there’s some people where you’re like ‘where have these people been hiding?’ ●– – Blame the author/editor for “armatures,” but the total lack of self-awareness is all Bucky.

Q: Do you like doing music videos?
A: I do enjoy it. It’s a critical part of a song and a lot of people get to know what the song’s about by a video. ●– – Luke Bryan. If it weren’t for videos, I wouldn’t know what any songs are about.

I consider myself a country music songwriter, but that doesn’t mean I write the kind of stuff that’s going to get on the radio or played on TV. I see a lot of the sacrifices those guys have to make to get to that level, and I don’t know that I’m willing to do that. Not that I don’t want to have more people at my show, but when you have to change who you are and what you do, I’d rather take success on my own terms than mess with it on that level. ●– – Hayes Carll.

I’m a concerned citizen. I think the country’s going down the tubes because of a whole bunch of bad decisions made by our politicians. I applaud the governor of Arizona so much for coming out and taking a stand on this. Don’t get me wrong. I’m for legal immigration 100 percent. But illegal anything, I’m not for; especially to the extent that illegal immigration has gotten out of control. It scares me, and it’s gonna really hurt the fabric of the country. It’s absurd that anyone would oppose this law. ●– – Ray Stevens on the Arizona immigration controversy. His new music video for anti-border-jumping novelty song “Come to the USA” has been viewed more than 2 million times in the past month, so I’ll pass it along and give you the opportunity to be inspired/offended. (Incidentally, Buddy Jewell? Total missed opportunity.)

Comments

I would believe that Mutt Lange actually has a good sense of country. I’m still very impressed by how he and Shania were able to blend it so well with pop/rock on some of The Woman in Me. Although obviously most of his work isn’t country at all, so the “depressing” part still holds true.

“The Woman in Me” is a lot more Country than almost anything out there today. But the more time goes by without new material from Shania, the more I wonder whether it all was 99% Mutt, and she knows what she does on her own won’t measure up. Let’s hope that’s not the case. It would be great to see her back on the scene with some really good new material. But when?

Wow, that Miranda Lambert quote is worthy of being deemed a “Bonerguro”! Yikes! When compared to Patsy Cline’s vocal ability and nuance Carrie Underwood sounds like a pop-rock Idol diva hack (which of course, she is).

When it comes to Luke Bryan and Justin Moore, I have to commend them for pioneering the new sub-genre of “Yahoo Ignoramus Country” targeted to the multitude of simpletons in the Top 40 radio audience! I must say it seems to be a rapidly growing audience segment, and especially among young people who identify themselves as Obamavoters! Our current state of public school education guarantees this audience will continue to grow by leaps and bounds…\

Speaking of the Country Throwup Tour currently in progress, here’s a quote from a Washington Post concert review:
“Emily West boasted lyrics that resembled a deranged cheerleading routine: “It’s all right! It’s okay! My boyfriend left me yesterday!””
Hey now, I think “Annie’s Gonna Get A New Gun” is one of the best songs Emily has recorded thus far! I’m glad to read Emily has included that rip-roarin girl power anthem in her Throwdown setlist.
Also from the same review:
“One disappointment, however, came when the infectious Sarah Buxton was relegated to the singer-between-sets role, performing only two songs with Jedd Hughes as the crew set up for Montgomery Gentry. Next year, she deserves at least Outlaw Stage status.”
Does this reviewer really believe there is going to be a next year for the Throwdown Tour? Hmm…